Germantown runs by Waukesha South

The Germantown girls basketball team scored a 63-43 victory over visiting Waukesha South in a regional semifinal Friday, earning a chance to face second-seeded Waukesha West on Saturday.

Germantown’s 3-point shooters struck early and often with Amy Flasch opening the scoring for the Warhawks in the first quarter, while the Warhawks’ defense was utterly relentless in its full court pressure.

The Blackshirts couldn’t quite cope with the pressure and were forced into bad passes or shots on numerous occasions. Star player Lexi Weitzer, a four-year starter and the only senior on the team, was consistently facing a double team, and the Warhawks led 19-5 after the first quarter, then 39-19 at halftime.

Waukesha South favored penetrating inside for easy baskets rather than taking outside shots.

“When you’re playing three to two, we wanted to make sure that we weren’t shooting anything from beyond five feet," South coach Paul Darling said. "What I did not realize is that we would have such trouble getting the ball in. Our passing was pretty poor tonight.”

The Blackshirts did gain an advantage from Germantown’s physical play when they started earning bonus and double-bonus free throws, but as they had all season, South found it difficult to take advantage of that situation, making just 23 of their 42 attempts.

“We anticipated that if we were able to stall and hold it as much as we could, they’d probably foul us, and then we’d have to hope for the best,” said Darling. “Our free-throw shooting has been atrocious all year. Even though we got the foul advantage, we were getting physically worn down.”

It was business as usual for the up-tempo Warhawks.

“We did what we always do," Germantown coach Matt Stuve said. "We actually worked on different press variations this week. I think we got 25 turnovers in the first half. Hopefully we’ll have more of the same.”

Miska Cantley scored four 3-point baskets for the Warhawks, which scored 11 as a team. Miska began the third quarter with two consecutive 3-point shots. She added another later in the quarter, and one in the fourth.

“We executed really well today,” she said. “We work on it in practice. That’s basically what we look for, we look to kick it out, and that’s how we get our 3-point baskets.”

Darling added, “They hit some shots. Their kids stepped up. The defensive rebounding for us and the offensive rebounding for them was also pretty key.”

The Blackshirts were able to outscore the Warhawks in the fourth quarter, 20-8, led by 10 points from Lexi Weitzer, who scored a game-high 16 points despite the close marking, but the game was well beyond salvage.

Cantley led the Warhawks in points with 12. Germantown plays at West at 7 p.m. Saturday.

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